Egypt blames Qatar for human suffering in Syria and Libya

The war of words continues between the Arab neighbors, the Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry has blamed Qatar for human suffering in several parts of Syria and Libya.

In a statement MR. Shoukeru said “We see the level of damage and the level of human suffering that has been associated to interventions like Qatar in Syria and Libya and the heavy price that Egypt has to pay in the loss of civilian life,”.

Egypt is part of a quartet of Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia boycotting Qatar over alleged ties to terrorism. The countries suspended diplomatic relations and cut off land, sea and air travel to Qatar in early June. Qatar has rejected those accusations.

Qatar responded within the agreed time frame, but Shoukry said Qatar’s answers were “overall negative and lacked any substance,” and the boycott would continue.

Earlier, four Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia, have said that they would continue their diplomatic and economic blockade of Qatar after the nation gave a “negative” response to their list of demands.

On 22 June, the four nations put forth a 13-point list of demands – including ending support for the Muslim Brotherhood, closing of al-Jazeera, a reduction in diplomatic ties with Iran, and the halting of a Turkish military base in Qatar -and gave Qatar 10 days to comply.

The Egyptian foreign minister went on to say that media outlets in Qatar were guilty of “glorifying terrorist activities.”